Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Human Rights Watch and a UN refugee agency expressed concern on Tuesday that Lebanon was blocking Palestinians fleeing Syria from entering the country.

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said it was “concerned about the increased restrictions on Palestine refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria from entering Lebanon”.

“We are monitoring the situation on the border carefully and have been given assurances by the Lebanese authorities that these restrictions are temporary,” said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness in a statement.

Beirut has not announced a blanket ban on the entry of Palestinians from Syria, but government sources confirm a general policy to keep out Palestinians fleeing the conflict.

Human Rights Watch has also documented the Jordanian government’s policy of pushing back Palestinian refugees from Syria trying to enter Jordan from Syria at the border, without considering their claims for asylum in Jordan.

But UNRWA's claim of being concerned about how Palestinian Syrians in Lebanon are faring is hollow. UNRWA is treating them badly too, as Albawaba notes:

Mohammed Hassan, a refugee from Syria who is in charge of health at the Baddawi Popular Committee, explains that “in general, most cases in Baddawi and Bared are of chronic diseases. Two months ago, there were six cancer patients who had to return to Syria, being unable to get treatment in Lebanon.”

“Aid comes from NGOs mostly,” he continues. “The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) covered some needs based on their meager capacity, but no medicine. However, some political factions cover these issues also. But patients still need money if they want to see specialists.”

“As for UNRWA, it treats Syrian Palestinians as it did in Syria, covering 50 percent of expenses, but only through pressure and connections,” he adds. “The percentage is not logical. UNRWA knows that Lebanon prohibits Palestinian refugees from getting jobs.”

“UNRWA staff treat us as ‘second class,’ since we come from Syria,” he continues. “We met the UNRWA director in North Lebanon and explained our situation, but nothing has been solved until now. The priority is 100 percent health coverage. We want to be treated like they would treat a refugee who was displaced from Bared to Baddawi, for example.”

Lebanon, for its part, wants to ensure that its Palestinian population stays miserable and stateless. Only last month:

Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil Monday voiced Lebanon’s opposition to a recent Arab League resolution because it failed to mention the Palestinian right of return.

During a news conference, Bassil said the ministry had sent a letter of complaint to the organization and had held contacts with its head, Nabil Elarabi, and the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry urging an amendment to the statement, which was released April 9.

“We supported the decisions which were expected to be in the final statement because it preserved the tripartite formula of the Arab Peace Initiative,” he said, referring to the need for Israel’s withdrawal to the 1967 borders, the establishment of a Palestinian state and the right of refugees to return. “We were surprised to see that the right of return, or at least rejection of naturalization in Lebanon, was dropped from the final statement ... therefore, we announce our reservation and opposition to what happened.”

“The right of return is a permanent Lebanese stance and that position can change if [Palestinians] abandon such a right. Lebanon’s stance, then, will be outright rejection of naturalization,” he said.

The Lebanese Constitutional forbids naturalization, Bassil said, adding that such a move would damage the country’s demography.

There have been thousands of lucky Palestinians over the years who have managed to become citizens through loopholes in Lebanese laws. None of them ever said "no, I prefer to remain stateless." Yet Lebanon - and UNRWA - insist that the Pals reject naturalization, when it is in fact the self-proclaimed Arab leaders who reject Palestinian Arabs from becoming citizens. The entire reason Lebanon, Jordan and other Arab nations insist on "the right to return" is so that they can get rid of their Palestinian populations.
That's how much they love their "brethren."

Jews remain the most hated people in the Middle East, hands down. But Palestinian Arabs are a close second.

Hasbys!

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون

This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

Compliments

Omri: "Elder is one of the best established and most respected members of the jblogosphere..."Atheist Jew:"Elder of Ziyon probably had the greatest impression on me..."Soccer Dad: "He undertakes the important task of making sure that his readers learn from history."AbbaGav: "A truly exceptional blog..."Judeopundit: "[A] venerable blog-pioneer and beloved patriarchal figure...his blog is indispensable."Oleh Musings: "The most comprehensive Zionist blog I have seen."Carl in Jerusalem: "...probably the most under-recognized blog in the JBlogsphere as far as I am concerned."Aussie Dave: "King of the auto-translation."The Israel Situation:The Elder manages to write so many great, investigative posts that I am often looking to him for important news on the PalArab (his term for Palestinian Arab) side of things."Tikun Olam: "Either you are carelessly ignorant or a willful liar and distorter of the truth. Either way, it makes you one mean SOB."Mondoweiss commenter: "For virulent pro-Zionism (and plain straightforward lies of course) there is nothing much to beat it."Didi Remez: "Leading wingnut"

feed

counter

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by those providing comments on this website are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Elder of Ziyon. EoZ is not responsible for the content of the comments.

You are legally liable for the content of your comments that you submit to this site.

By submitting a comment to this website, you warrant that we are not responsible, or liable of any of the content posted by you and you agree to indemnify us from any and all claims and liabilities (including legal fees) which could arise from your comments submitted to the site.